Three years ago production began on my documentary, “A Sound Life.” What follows is a brief somewhat random encapsulation of why I’m making this film and what it’s generally about, what my preparation process has been before and during interviews, A List film industry experts I’ve filmed, and the intended uses for “A Sound Life”.

My film is a look into sound designer / mixer Richard Beggs’ self-taught, forty-year career — how his background in music and art influence his film work, how he’s provided women a gateway into the industry, how he collaborates with directors and other colleagues, and how he uses ambience and audio metaphors to evoke the psychological aspects of sound.

Thus far, I’ve interviewed five film directors; nine re-recording mixers, (four of them were women who were assistants to Beggs, and currently have successful careers in post production sound); Beggs’ current wife, an Editor; his former wife, an Artist; two friends from high school; and a former art teacher from high school (who has since passed).

My success in getting ‘A List’ film industry professionals to agree to be interviewed is due to the respect they have for Richard and his work. It was tricky to meet them requiring dozens of emails to nail down a location, date and time.

Even though I studied film (Super 8 and 16mm) at the University of Arizona in the 80s, I wasn’t taught anything about sound. (Aside: learning more about sound for film is one of the reasons why I’m making this film. The other reason is that I make films about autodidacts, and Richard fits-the-bill; not only because he is self-taught, but he’s an enigmatic and intense person as well.) Anyway, I began my research by learning about the history of motion picture sound. I found information from books, web articles, videos on You Tube, documentaries on Netflix and Linda.com, podcasts, and iTunes University.

Next, I familiarized myself with my subject’s background as a re-recording mixer. I grabbed this quickly from Wiki because who would know this? “A re-recording mixer is a post-production audio engineer who mixes recorded dialogue, sound effects and music to create the final version of a soundtrack for a feature film, television program, or television advertisement.”

Surfing the internet to find anything my interviewee had written or had been filmed discussing, I then hand-tailored questions (intentionally different from what was on-line) I edited my questions many times, narrowing them down to the essence. I compared the interviews with one another, occasionally seeking duplicity in an answer, like for the definition of ‘sound designer.’

Practicing set-up and break-down of lights, camera and sound in my home.

About a week before the interview, I practiced setting up and breaking down my camera, lights, Sennheiser lavaliere mics, and Handy Zoom Recorder. I printed a personal release and a location agreement, charged my equipment and drew diagrams of how I could potentially light the ‘scene.’

Nervous the night before an interview, I found it helpful to meditate with an AP called Insight Timer. I definitely couldn’t drink coffee a few days before and the day of the interview. I arrived one hour before the shoot to get my mics set to the same channel, privately. I visualized setting up my equipment and reviewed my interview questions. I’ll be honest; it was nerve-racking at times, given the expertise and prestige my subjects had. With each interview, I became more comfortable with the process.

Beggs’ (former) sound mixing studio, located in the Presidio in the San Francisco Film Center building (He has since moved his studio into the basement of his Victorian mansion.); the library at the San Francisco Art Institute; the Napa Sound Mixing Stage on the Coppola estate; the American Zoetrope basement studio; Beggs’ four-story Victorian; and his Porsche were unique locations for our interviews. The locations give us a peek into the lifestyle of Beggs’ relatively unknown filmmaking profession in a city that most associate with the Hollywood and Indie film industry.

Typical to “run and gun” documentary filmmaking, for many of my shoots, I arrived with no idea what the lighting or the room I’d shoot in looked like. (If possible, I asked to visit the location of the shoot in advance to take photos of it. I wanted to use one source of natural lighting if possible.) I often had a time constraint given to me by my subject and that added pressure as well.

Director Sofia Coppola permitted me to interview her during an afternoon break while she was working in New York City with Beggs on the final sound mix of her film, “The Beguiled.” Beggs has been the sound designer for all of her feature films, up to 2018.

Interviewing American Director, Barry Levinson, in his studio in Soho, New York City was fantastic. His unique perspective captured the essence of filmmaking.

I filmed Richard Beggs at work with Director, Francis Coppola, at Coppola’s Meyer Sound mixing stage in northern California. Beggs got his start in the film industry working on the sound for Coppola’s multi-Academy Award-winning Vietnam war film, “Apocalypse Now.”

Further footage I shot contributes to examples of the San Francisco independent filmmaking scene – with sound being mixed in Beggs’ studio in the Presidio. Director Jonathan Parker permitted me to film he and Beggs working on the sound mix for his film “The Architect.” I filmed Phil Tippett his crew with Beggs as they discussed the final sound track for “Mad God (part two)” in Kim Aubry’s screening room at ZAP. I interviewed Eleanor Coppola during the final mix of her first feature film, “Paris Can Wait.”

Of course Walter Murch had incredibly insightful things to say about sound mixing inside his rural classic Victorian farm house, but an odd thing happened during our interview. His cat brought in a rat it had killed in the field and dropped it on the floor between us and began crunching its skull. (I could hear it in my earphones.) I interrupted Walter to instruct the cat to take its prize away — which it did to my delight!

At Randy Thom’s home, the room where we met looked like it was straight out Architectural Digest. That location really upped the production value of my low budget documentary. But more importantly, Thom’s perspective about sound design is cutting edge, in my opinion.

I filmed seven-time Oscar-winning Gary Rydstrom in Marin at one of the fanciest sound mixing studios in Northern California. Rydstrom’s ability to respond to any question concisely and comfortably was amazing.

My Skip Lievsay interview was my favorite one of all, and it took place in Manhattan.

In the photo above, note the ‘scene’ where I had an interview with Lora Hirschberg. It was an elegant conference room with custom Mission style architecture and furniture, and a spectacular view of the Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco Bay.

According to George Lucas, a film’s soundtrack is responsible for half of a viewer’s experience. The film “A Sound Life” finally acknowledges the technical and creative prowess it takes to mix all the the elements of a motion picture soundtrack. Film industry experts set a standard for the importance and the integrity of motion picture soundtracks.

My hope is that media studies programs will screen my film with discussion questions to their film students. Another potential group of users for my film is with the Motion Picture Editors Guild, as a learning resource for members. Libraries, Art museums and of course film festivals are other distribution venues.

So, somehow I thought I had responded to this juicy post, but I hadn’t. Better late than never, I suppose! I am continually impressed with how you put yourself out there, Kristin, pushing yourself further and further. You say you won’t let your lack of experience keep you from finishing this film, and that attitude is great, but every inexperienced step you take makes you experienced! Which is pretty much the game plan for an autodidact, so you’re practicing what you preach. You inspire me always–keep going! I can’t wait to see the finished film after all, all, all the work you’ve put in!

Apologies for not responding sooner. I’m always pleased when you visit and share your thoughts with me here. Thank you very much for your enthusiasm and encouragement for this project. Having your support means a lot to me. I admire your work ethic and perseverance too.

Karen,
I really appreciate your comment! Thank you. It’s nice to know that the filmmaking process interests you. That’s what my film is about! Regarding research: it’s so fun and engaging. It’s just amazing how much you can teach yourself–and take good notes, keep track of your links, or make an outline of the content for quick reference–heh heh;-) Good Luck!!!!